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Friday the 13th (1980)

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Average Rating: 5.5/10
Reviews Counted: 47
Fresh: 28 | Rotten: 19

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Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 4
Fresh: 2 | Rotten: 2

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Movie Info

One of the longest-running horror film series began with this gory shocker from director Sean S. Cunningham, who had previously produced Wes Craven's classic Last House on the Left. Entrepreneur Steve Christie (Peter Brouwer) re-opens Camp Crystal Lake after many years during which it has been cursed by murders and bad luck. The young and nubile counselors all begin to die extremely bloody deaths at the hands of an unseen killer during a rainstorm which isolates the camp. A woman is chopped in

R, 1 hr. 35 min.

Horror

Directed By: Sean S. Cunningham

Written By: Ron Kurz

In Theaters: May 9, 1980 Wide

On DVD: Oct 19, 1999

For all its shoddiness, the film manages, just barely, to achieve its ignoble goals -- it delivers what it promises.

September 26, 2007 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader

| Comments (2)

Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

Top Critic

The whole film is one of the best arguments for resuming movie censorship to come along in years.

March 7, 2005 Full Review Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution

| Comment

Joseph Litsch

Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Top Critic

Beware of this infamous, sadistic slasher film.

December 15, 2010 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media

| Comments (2)

Charles Cassady

Common Sense Media

It hasn't aged well; its nonstyle renders it pretty sedate these days.

October 19, 2010 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com

| Comment

Rob Gonsalves

eFilmCritic.com

Within the dead-teenie realm it achieves a certain classicism

September 6, 2009 Full Review Source: CinePassion

| Comment

Fernando F. Croce

CinePassion

Has there ever been a more unimaginative exercise in big-screen terror?

August 21, 2009 Full Review Source: City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul

| Comment (1)

Rob Nelson

City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul Source: City Pages, Minneapolis/St. Paul

What makes the movie work is that the slasher genre hadn't been set in stone yet, and some choices that director Sean S. Cunningham makes in the film that work against type.

March 5, 2009 Full Review Source: 7M Pictures

| Comments (3)

Kevin Carr

7M Pictures

a campfire boogeyman story designed to do little more than build tension and deliver a few well-timed shocks, which it does with precision and even a bit of artistry

February 14, 2009 Full Review Source: Q Network Film Desk

| Comments (2)

James Kendrick

Q Network Film Desk

Timed to coincide with the release of its 2009 remake, Friday the 13th was re-released on standard DVD and got its Blu-ray debut.

February 13, 2009 Full Review Source: Apollo Guide

| Comment

Brian Webster

Apollo Guide

How do you sum up a movie that's really quite awful yet helped define a filmmaking era?

February 13, 2009 Full Review Source: Apollo Guide

| Comment

Brian Webster

Apollo Guide

Whether you want to credit or blame Friday the 13th for its role in influencing modern cineplex cinema is a matter of taste. [Blu-ray]

February 10, 2009 Full Review Source: Groucho Reviews

| Comment

Peter Canavese

Groucho Reviews Source: Groucho Reviews

...a woefully bad slasher flick, complete with an inept cast (including Kevin Bacon in uncomfortably tight shorts); laborious pacing; and an interminable catfight climax.

February 10, 2009 Full Review Source: LarsenOnFilm

| Comment

Josh Larsen

LarsenOnFilm

Friday the 13th set the tone for the modern slasher flick. So you know which film to blame for all those lousy horror films.

February 7, 2009 Full Review Source: What Would Toto Watch?

| Comment

Christian Toto

What Would Toto Watch?

Friday the 13th is the one that started them all, but that doesn't necessarily make it any good, does it?

February 4, 2009 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine

| Comment

Jeremiah Kipp

Slant Magazine

You really have to wonder what exactly made the Friday the 13th series so wildly successful.

February 4, 2009 Full Review Source: Slant Magazine

| Comments (3)

Jeremiah Kipp

Slant Magazine

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Audience Reviews for Friday the 13th

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Doesn't deserve classic status among top shelf horror greats like "Halloween" and " A Nightmare on Elm Street", but it certainly isn't that bad. The film has some good cinematography and has that old school horror feeling I love that just isn't there among horror films these days, but the script is lacking. If they

May 12, 2008

Josh Lewis

Super Reviewer

Friday the 13th is completely undeserving of the reputation it has held on to for the past 30 years next to Wes Craven's masterpiece Nightmare on Elm Street. That's a movie much more influential to horror cinema. Director Sean Cunningham has unfortunately created "The Last House on the Left" lite, because it wasn't

January 16, 2012

Directors Cat

Super Reviewer

Friday the 13th Quotes

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1. Crazy Ralph: You're going to Camp Blood, ain't ya?
2. Truck Driver: Goddammit, Ralph, get outta here! Go on, get! Leave people alone!
3. Crazy Ralph: You'll never come back again.
4. Truck Driver: Oh, shut up, Ralph.
5. Crazy Ralph: It's got a death curse!
– Submitted by Rocky F (2 months ago)
1. Mrs. Voorhees: Jason was my son, and today is his birthday.
– Submitted by Danny M (3 months ago)
1. Mrs. Voorhees: Look what you did to him!
– Submitted by Noah G (8 months ago)
1. Mrs. Voorhees: Kill her, Mommy! Kill her!
– Submitted by Noah G (8 months ago)
1. Mrs. Voorhees: (in a child's voice; in the distance) - Help me. Help me! Help me.
– Submitted by Creep F (11 months ago)

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